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1997 Read-In!
A Literacy Project for All
Compiled by Mother Goose (alias Cheryl Vitali)
Description of Read-In
This May marked the fourth annual Read-In!, an innovative technology and
classroom project that has grown from an original two schools to some 140,000
students around the world. The project was the creation of California State
Telementor Jane Coffey, one of 424 telementors trained in 1994 as part of
the California Telemation Project. Our entire elementary school was involved
in the project.
The original Mother Goose should really be Chris Doyle (or Mama Duck, as
she is affectionately known) by 1994 telementors statewide. As Director
of the project she helped coordinate the training of all state and local
telementors. There was a reunion of many telemtentors at Fall CUE in 1994,
maybe it is time for another. All involved in this statewide technology
project are doing exciting and inspirational things in their districts.
The way these people teach has been forever changed! The Read-In! shows
the tremendous power that the use of the Internet can have to bring positive
change and active learning into the classroom.
The following is the day at Alta as seen through Mother Goose's perspective:
Well, I flew in on Bertrum (my goose) from Mother Goose Land, slightly
before 4:00 AM when the Read-In officially started. You may ask, just what
is the Read-In? It is a WONDERFUL Internet project that was dreamed up by
a California state telementor, Jane Coffey. The first year two schools participated,
Dutcher Elementary in Turlock, CA (Jane's school), and Grand Avenue School
in Chickasha, OK. They spent the entire day in reading activities and corresponded
to each other by chatting on AOL. The idea has grown and grown, until now
in its fourth year an amazing 140,000 schoolchildren all over the world
participated in the day's event. The 1998 Read-In is tenatively set for
May 1. Alta Elementary School had so much fun this year that plans are already
being made for the day. To find out more details about this project check
out the web site at <http://www.gsh.org/readin>.
Just what makes this project so intriguing and why has it become so popular?
One, it is solidly tied to curriculum as the best uses of technology should
be. Two, it is tied to the most important curriculum area- READING. Without
becoming life-long readers, children will have a difficult time being successful.
The love of reading becomes the focus of a delightful day that can be extended
to year round activities as well. Three, it was a project that appealed
to all of my school. I actually had every class and teacher participating.
They were jazzed, and the principal and I were thrilled at how enthused
everyone became. Four, being able to chat with living authors has great
appeal. The Chat Room at Alta was most active when popular authors were
on. Next year, I will be sure to be familiar with all authors' work before
the Read-In so I can make sure the appropriate grade levels hear some of
their stories beforehand. Believe it or not, the Chat room worked beautifully.
I was truly amazed at how easily I was able to log on to the server. All
day long authors were on line corresponding with children and giving tips
on writing stories. The technical support behind this project was outstanding.
Authors featured this year were: David Boyd, Peter Thomas, Jackie Frenck
Koller, Rob Thomas, Bruce Balan, Connie Porter, Joan Irvine, Carol Tanzman,
Smokey Bear/Clifford, R.L. Stine, David Patneaude, Avi, Mark Kistler, Evelyn
Clarke Mott, Ed Emberley, David Wisniewski, Rob Thomas, Aaron Shepard, Jackie
French Koller, Peter Thomas, David Boyd, Kathleen Olson.
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Now you may ask, how do you make this work with all grade levels? Surprisingly
I didn't have to help my teachers figure this out, but the best way to describe
how to do it is to tell about the day from one school's perspective. After
launching the initial idea at a staff meeting, it took on a life of its
own. Sometime early on, the idea of impersonating characters came up in
the discussion, as well as rotating classrooms to share favorite stories.
At least 60% of the teachers at Alta came in character for the day. I'm
sure you guessed mine, and it worked very well. I'm afraid I will leave
out some, but during the day we had Cinderella reading many versions of
her tale, Emily and Clifford the Big Red Dog (and he was a Big Red Dog,
she spray painted him!), Farmer Guenther and the Little Red Hen, a fireman
and a real emu reading "Edward the Emu," Novio Boy reading Gary
Soto's "Chato's Kitchen," Miss Frizzle taking students inside
the earth, to space, and all over, Pecos Bill reading Steven Kellogg's version
of his story, Halli Tosis who invited the students to bring their stuffed
dogs to read to, Granny who baked the "Gingerbread Boy," Alice
in Wonderland, the butterfly from "The Very Hungry Caterpillar,"
and a train conductor. A list of books read during the day will be sent
to Jane who compiles them all. (This list could be used for graphing or
math connections following up the project.) There is also a competition
for photo-journalism of the day and book reports with monetary prizes and
savings bonds.
As Mother Goose and organizer of the day, I was literally flying all around
the school. Students videotaped in classrooms (I need to borrow some more
cameras next year, it was impossible to be everywhere), Quick Take images
were taken, and many teachers also took standard photos. I wish I had gotten
a chance to get the characters to pose together, but the time didn't happen.
We did get them on video though. Guest readers came and went throughout
the day. I only regret this event coincided with the Spring CUE Conference
in Palm Springs. I had wondered why none of my techie friends around the
Central Valley had taken up my invitation to join us!
The best part of it was the wide-eyed wonder and enjoyment of the children.
I had great fun with Cinderella and Miss Frizzle and wove them and all the
characters into my storytelling throughout the day. Many times I wound up
spontaneously telling a story while visiting a class. My favorite was an
embellished telling of "The Owl and the Pussycat" that I recited
and dramatized from memory (didn't have the book).
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Cinderella and I staged Bertrum's escape (whom I erroneously called Bertrude
for the day). I went into kindergarten quite distressed about my missing
goose - what would I do for transportation home? Cinderella (alias Joleen
Siebert, an accomplished actress in the Central Valley) burst in with the
rescued goose and we exchanged rhymes and tales briefly. I told the students
how she was like "Deedle Deedle Dumpling" because of her shoes!
Both of us had great fun with impromptu acting every time we met and used
it quite effectively. They all wanted to see me fly on Bertrum so I had
to explain how I was like Santa Claus and only flew at night while children
were sleeping. They could see me fly in their dreams. I also had fun explaining
the red bow on the goose's neck (which I covered with a bandana). Every
class really got into this one. Bertrum liked to pretend he was a Christmas
Goose (wouldn't remove his red ribbon which is why I hid it). I had a student
cover his ears while I explained why this was a bad idea. Actually, I had
them guess. The younger the students, the quicker they figured out the answer
about roast goose. Cinderella pointed out he could pretend to be an Alta
Eagle as red is our school color.
Well, this was such a success with the first kindergarten, that I asked
Miss Frizzle (Vickie Bloom) to help with the next kindergarten class. Again,
I explained that Clifford the Big Red Dog (Emily was Julie Wood) had scared
off Bertrum. This time he was found by the Magic School Bus as they were
traveling in the earth. Miss Frizzle's costume was a riot! Kindergarten
had as much fun as any class for the day. We managed to get 6 computer stations
with CD-ROMS in the classroom and they had a very full and exciting day
of guest readers, Clifford, Mother Goose, an emu, bilingual stories (told
by Maria Anzudalda), and living books.
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I think I startled the Exponent reporter, Doreen Oaken, by greeting her
in character. We were still having fun in the lunch room and Alice and Cinderella
were going on about their movies. When I pestered Alice about plagiarizing
some of my stories, they pointed out I had been around forever and my patents
had expired, and it went on and on. A wonderful time was had by all, and
I think every guest reader plans on returning next year. The guest readers
included: Maria Anzudalda, Jim Blied, Bill Smith, Peggy Thompson, and Irv
Isaak.
Here is a sample of books read in Alice's (Donna Musson's) first grade classroom:
1. Clifford Does Good Deeds
2. Guess How Much I Love You
3. Clifford and the Grouchy Neighbor
4. Alice in Wonderland
5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
6. The Little Red Hen
7. Rosie's Walk
8. Dogzilla
9. Mother Goose Rhymes
10. Nursery Rhyme Hide & Seek Book
11. Tape & Flannel Pics, Sheep (Science Unit)
12. We Can Get Along
13. Trade Books at desks for individual reading
I hope next year more schools decide to participate in this fun project.
An interesting question would be predicting how many students participate
next year.
Meanwhile, I'm flying back to Mother Goose Land. Until next year, READ!
READ! READ
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Summaries from Alta Teachers, Students,
& Visitors
Jim Blied
Reactions to day by Kings Canyon USD Special Ed Director Jim Blied
Had a great time in the classes!! Cinderella needs some help with losing
slippers, the gingerbread lady wouldn't let me borrow her apron & pass
out her gingerbread cookies, Julie's dog raised my level of anxiety, and
Mother Goose didn't say HI. (Jim was gone too quick, there were only about
15 rooms that needed recording at the same time! Had to get those those
tech crews going.)
Cinderella
Cinderella alias Joleen Siebert
We had a Cinderell festival. I read Caldecott Medal winner Cinderella by
Marcia Brown, my favorite sort of Golden Book Cinderella by Andreas, The
Egyptian Cinderella by Climo, and Cinder-Elly by Minters. Jim Bleid was
a guest reader and read Harry the Dirty Dog. Another activity was our Reader's
Theater hour when the students read excerpts from Frog and Toad Together,
Jungle Book, Amelia Bedelia, and poems by Jack Prelutsky and Judith Viorst.
It was really special to see the reaction of the children to "being"
Cinderella. Thanks to Jane Klassen for lending me the dress!
Principal Jean Clemons
Please include parent, Bill Smith (emu), and Peggy Thompson (from Christ
Lutheran ) as readers today.
Farmer Guenther
Farmer Guenther alias Kathy Guenther
Emily Elizabeth and Clifford The Big Red Dog-Julie Wood Fireman Bill Smith
and his Emu-(I can't remember the name of the book) Alice In Wonderland-
Mrs. Musson
The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Mrs. Zwiegle The Little Red Hen, Rosie's Walk-
Mrs. Guenther Old Mother Goose- Mrs. Vitali
District Grant Writer Irv Isaak
Book read: "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"
Classes read to:
Mrs. Anderson
Mrs. Haney
Mrs. King
Rachelle Phillips
Hali Tosis alias Rachelle Phillips
1. I read two dog stories-one fiction and one non-fiction.
Dog Breath-Dav Pilkey
King- amazing true rescue of family by dog
2. Kids read to each other in pairs, book of their choice. Each kid got
to
be a "reader" and a "listener" for 10 minutes each.
3. Cindy Tribble, author, read to us. She also gave us ideas how she
gets her ideas for her books.
4. Kids brought their favorite stuffed dog to share and they really enjoyed
having 'it' with them to help with their reading, etc.!!
A fun day!
Maria Anzuldada
Guest Reader Maria Anzuldada
It was a great experience. Wish I could do more. I read two books: Gathering
the Sun (An Alphabet in Spanish and English) by Alma Flor Ada and Siempre
te querré (Love You Forever) in Spanish (of course) by Robert Munsch
Tracie King's students compiled the following:
Room 6 thoroughly enjoyed the "Read-In" on Friday, May 9,1997.
Mrs. King rearranged our room putting all our desks around the perimeter
and our chairs in the middle. Mrs. King then put her rocking chair in front.
This is where she sat and our visiting readers as well. We began the day
with some Amelia Belelia stories. We then practiced reading scripts of a
short skit on Christopher Columbus.
Mr. John Clements from the Transportation Department then joined us just
before morning recess to read to us about trains. He was dressed as a conductor
and brought with him all sorts of literature about railroads. Our favorite
book he read was TRAINS by Donald Crews. He even brought a wooden train
whistle that he blew during different parts of the story. He was so nice
to us and gave us some valuable information on railroad safety. He left
each student with a coloring book, book marker and ruler. Mrs. King received
a cool keychain.
After recess, Mrs. Haney's class came into ours and we welcomed childrens
book author, Mrs. Tripple. She is a friend of Alta's Mrs. Hannon. She asked
if all the kids could sit on the floor around her. She shared about "imagination"
and how to use it in writing stories. The children enjoyed asking all types
of questions as to how she gets her ideas to write. She brought some samples
of completed works and works in progress. Their favorite story was one titled
THE MONSTERS TALE. She used students to help turn pages as she read her
story. It was so funny. She had different voices for the each of the characters.
By days end you could find any one of the second graders from Rooms 5 or
6 chanting....."I am a mummy looking for my mommy"!
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After lunch we experienced shared buddy reading with Room 5. We each sent
10 students to the others room and buddied up partners for reading. This
a practice we do weekly with our own classes and thought it would be a great
time to share. After 20 minutes we came back together and journaled about
our experiences.
Our day ended with a visit from Irv Isaak. He too asked the children to
sit on the floor around him while he read CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS.
What a great story about a town that receives all their food from the weather.
Boy did that ever spark some conversation with the students. Mr. Isaak was
so nice and talked with all the students answering their questions.
On Monday morning, we brainstormed some thank you letters to each of our
guests and spent the morning writing and illustrating cards. All in all
it was a great experience and I believe one in which should become an annual
tradition at Alta Elementary
Miss Frizzle alias Vickie Bloom
We read individual books as a class. But I read Magic School Bus, Inside
the Earth, Mr. Smith read "Edward the Emu" that he donated to
the Library..
Georgia Kinney
Georgia Kinney
The morning kindergarten ran 8 centers throughout the morning. We began
our day with the SuperCart hearing the story on CD Rom - "Just Grandma
and Me". Then we began centers. Every other center had a CD Rom Computer
hooked up. There was from 3 to 5 children in each group. Two centers, opposite
each other, were CD Rom stories hooked up to a listening post. One story
was "The Hare and The Tortoise" and the other was "Dandy
Dinosaur". One of the other CD Roms centers allowed the students to
play games on "Just Grandma and Me". The fourth CD Rom was a painting
station where they chose their favorite animal from the story, "Four-Footed
Friends" they had heard prior the the Read-In Day. At this station
they also were able to color the picture (A hard copy) of their favorite
animal to take home. The other four centers included reading games with
Leap Frog Phonics and Boggle, Jr. and Alphabet Puzzles. The children enjoyed
it so much. Halfway between centers, we took a break from it all and had
a Sharing Time with the children. Julie Wood, speech therapist, came it
with her dog, Clifford, and read the book, "Clifford's Good Deeds."
Centers resumed until the end of the day when we had the special opportunity
of having visitors such as Cinderella and Mother Goose come to our classroom.
The students ended their day with Mother Goose and some of their favorite
Nursery Rhymes. What a GREAT DAY we had!!! GK
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Tidbits from Jane Coffey (Director of Read-In)
Online Comments
from ReadIn! developer Jane Coffey
Jane publishes a weekly chat room newsletter, and the following are some
of her quick online comments to teachers who participated in the event,
revealing the joys and woes of such a gigantic project for those who might
wish to become involved in the future!
Thank you to each and every one of you for signing up this year. The Read
In! is a work in progress... Teachers are amazing... They know that with
no real budget, that things are not always possible, but they learn to be
creative and resourceful... IF the technology didn't work: WHAT did you
do to make it successful? If it did work for you, what was it like? Any
cute or touching stories you might share with me?
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Again, I hope we all will return... give me SOME time to rest... Remember,
I am not a credentialed teacher, but a computer technician in a year round
elementary school... I work ALL twelve months, so I have only two weeks
off a year, other than Christmas!! Remember, this is a work in progress...We
have grown so rapidly that we need feedback to know how to help make it
more successful the following year...
Some random online thoughts to ReadIn correspondants:
1. "We had so MANY volunteers, the kids were complaining that THEY
didn't get to read by themselves!! There were TOO MANY volunteers in the
classrooms!" President Clinton, are you listening???
2. "We should have setup before the Day Of...it was more difficult
than we thought"... Hmmm...I am not sure HOW to respond to that one...
First, we TRIED to setup and help as many of you as possible...We were in
the chatrooms as many as 14 hours a day for a week... I sent numerous letters
of instructions for both Mac and PC... and EACH included a plea TO setup
early...
3. "How about newsletters once a month, instead of once a week?"
I am looking into this..would save ME a great deal of work... I think it
will become bi-monthly, in order to stay on top of the statistics and to
be sure everyone has documentation.
4. Next year, will you get ------? or ------?
I HAVE to laugh at this....Remember, folks, basically I have no funding
for this project...The folks at Microsoft have permitted Heidi Johnson to
help these last several months (YEAAAAA, Heidi!!), donated server time and
money, setup the website, and have given us the technology to MAKE it so
successful; Kodak supplied digital cameras for the authors to chronicle
their day for the website; TRI gave us their Libraries Online server for
the day and helped setup moderators and gave us Gabrielle and her expertise
to keep the Day Of running smoothly; and Dave and Jenifer Evans of Digital
Voodoo donated their expertise and time all year long to update the site
and to help setup the email registrations to expedite my logging registrations...NONE
of the authors were compensated for their time to setup or spend online
chatting...
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So, I guess the bottomline is...I don't KNOW about next year: I do not know
who will be back or who will be new...I am not certain as to the status
of the Read In! itself...The Read In! does not belong to Microsoft--it is
a copyrighted project and copyrighted idea...I am looking into funding as
I type...Without a doubt, this is now a fulltime, unpaid position!
The Read In! is an idea...a love...a passion...What would be helpful to
me would be letters from YOU...
Tell me what it meant to you and your kids...Tell me what happened...Was
it successful? Will you come back in the future? What worked? What didn't?
Send me a letter while the day is still fresh in your mind...AFCJane@aol.com
Microsoft Sponsors Book Review Contest
In conjunction with The Read In!, Microsoft also sponsored a book review
contest for registered Read In! participants. The Leap Into Literature Contest
started May 9th with The Read In! Chat and ended on May 23rd. All schools
and individuals participating in The Read In! were given an opportunity
to win US Savings Bonds. Three students were selected from each school,
and the schools were required to document their participation in the ReadIn!
event. 23 prizes were awarded in all, including three awards to schools
- a $1000 US Savings Bond, a $500 US Savings Bond, and a $100 US Savings
Bond, in addition to 20 Individual awards of $50 US Savings Bonds for students
receiving Honorable Mention. For further information contact Heidi Johnson,
Building 19/2053, Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA
98052-6399.
Anyways I really must go, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are stopping by for
tea. The cow just won't stop jumping, I think I heard Georgy Porgy pestering
the girls at recess, such a busy, busy, day! But fun. Did get a chance to
see the emu for a little while and some girls got it on video.
Mother Goose
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by the Global SchoolNet Foundation
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